About the Female Genital Mutilation programme
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are an estimated 130 million women and girls living with FGM worldwide. Most of these women are located in 29 African countries. In the UK, FGM is increasingly identified amongst migrants from FGM-practising countries. There are an estimated 137 000 women in the UK affected by FGM.
In July 2014, the UK hosted the first Girl Summit which emphasised the need to end the practice of FGM within a generation. Health Education England (HEE) is committed to training frontline healthcare professionals to recognise and support women and girls who may have undergone FGM.
The e-FGM educational programme has been developed by Health Education England elearning for healthcare and is provided free to all healthcare professionals, including school nurses, practice nurses, health visitors and GPs. Developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, and supported by the Department of Health’s FGM Prevention team, the material deals with the issues posed by FGM at all stages of a girl or woman’s life.
More information
The Female Genital Mutilation programme (e-FGM) is made up of five 20 to 30 minute elearning sessions which are designed to improve the knowledge and awareness amongst healthcare professionals of some of the issues which FGM has on women and children.
The programme covers the following topics:
- An Introduction to FGM
- Communication Skills for FGM consultations
- Legal and Safeguarding Issues regarding FGM in the UK
- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in children and young women
- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in women and around pregnancy
- The Psychological Impact of FGM
The project is supported by a number of key stakeholder organisations:
- Health Education England (HEE)
- Department of Health (DH)
- Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA)
- School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA)
- Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)
- Royal College of Midwives (RCM)
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
- Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)
Presentation
Health Education England’s elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) eFGM elearning programme seeks to raise healthcare professionals’ awareness of the issues which affect women, children and families impacted by FGM. eFGM is available free of charge to UK healthcare staff. eFGM access can also be purchased by annual licence.
In addition, HEE elfh provides free, open access to a presentation that summarises the key messages in the five eFGM elearning sessions. The presentation contains text, videos, illustrations and graphics, and takes around 30 minutes to complete. International users should note that any legal content refers to UK legislation.
Select the Play button below to open the presentation.
Project team
Dr. Sveta Alladi
Clinical Lead, Health Education England
Jonathan Guy
Project Manager, Health Education England elearning for healthcare
Karen Walker
Lead Learning Designer, Health Education England elearning for healthcare
elearning sessions
- An Introduction to FGM – Prof Sarah Creighton, Dr. Dan Reisel
- Legal issues regarding FGM in the UK – Dr. Judy Shakespeare, Lynne Townley, Dr. Deborah Hodes
- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in women and around pregnancy – Mrs Pallavi Latthe, Janet Fyle, Alison Byrne
- Communication Skills for FGM consultations – Dr. John Spicer, Obi Amadi
- FGM: Issues, presentation and management in children and young women – Betsy Allen, Dr. Deborah Hodes
- The Psychological Impact of FGM – Jennifer Bourne, Dr. Lih-Mei Liao, Dr. Sveta Alladi
How to access
In order to access the Female Genital Mutilation programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.
To view the Female Genital Mutilation programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.
NHS healthcare staff in England
The Female Genital Mutilation programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this elearning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.
Further details are available here.
Not an NHS organisation?
If you are not an NHS health or care organisation and therefore do not qualify for free access elfh Hub, you may be able to access the service by creating an OpenAthens account.
To check whether or not you qualify for free access via OpenAthens, you can view the eligibility criteria and register on the ‘OpenAthens’ portal.
Registering large numbers of users
If you are a HR, IT or Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Female Genital Mutilation programme, please contact elfh directly.
Organisations wishing to use their own LMS
For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.
How to license
In the event that you do not qualify for free access to the Female Genital Mutilation programme, you are able to license access through eIntegrity, a community-interest company established for this purpose.
You can check whether or not you qualify for free access by clicking on the ‘Register’ button above.
For more information on the licensing options available for the Female Genital Mutilation programme, please visit the eIntegrity website.
More information
Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.